Bag Monsterhttp://www.bagmonster.com
Tue, 17 Oct 2017 15:20:51 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.10Bag Monster Heads to the UN for The Ocean Conferencehttp://www.bagmonster.com/2017/06/bag-monster-heads-to-the-un-for-the-ocean-conference.html
http://www.bagmonster.com/2017/06/bag-monster-heads-to-the-un-for-the-ocean-conference.html#respondThu, 08 Jun 2017 22:27:08 +0000http://www.bagmonster.com/?p=4539The Bag Monster made a trip to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City this week to attend the first ever Ocean Conference. He posed for photos with people from all over the world who seemed to love him. He didn’t realize until he went inside that those people are actually trying to get rid of him and his species.

Did you pose for a photo with Bag Monster? Share your photo on facebook.

]]>http://www.bagmonster.com/2017/06/bag-monster-heads-to-the-un-for-the-ocean-conference.html/feed0History of the Plastic Bag (Updated 11/2016)http://www.bagmonster.com/2016/11/history-of-the-plastic-bag.html
http://www.bagmonster.com/2016/11/history-of-the-plastic-bag.html#commentsFri, 11 Nov 2016 08:00:21 +0000http://www.bagmonster.com/?p=2391Note to reader:This timeline is intended as a starting point for people interested in the history and tactics of the single-use plastics industry. The information is pulled from various sources in the public domain and cites to these sources are provided. However, the author cannot be sure that the published references are 100% accurate and some dates are approximate.

1959

FIRST WARNING LABELS PRINTED ON PLASTIC BAGS – In 1959 after the deaths of 80 babies and toddlers, suffocated by plastic dry-cleaning bags, California introduces a law to ban plastic dry cleaning bags. A spokesperson from the plastics industry “blamed parental carelessness in the deaths” and contrary to previous comments regarding reuse, argued that polyethylene film was “made and costed to be disposable.”[i] The Society of the Plastics Industry, along with bag producers, resin companies and plastics processors drafted a Model Bill that preserved the existence of plastic garment bags in California. The net result is simply a printing requirement, providing a warning message, not a ban of the product.

CAUTION: Keep away from small children, the thin film may cling to nose and mouth
[ii]

1961

INDUSTRY SHIFTS RESPONSIBILITY TO THE CONSUMER – As the single-use products industry promotes the convenience of a throw-away lifestyle, litter becomes a highly noticeable and concerning form of pollution. Keep America Beautiful, with funding from makers of single-use products, runs a series of highly successful PSAs (Susan Spotless and the Famous Crying Indian) effectively shifting blame from the producers of the products to consumers now known as, “Litter Bugs.”[iii]

1977

“PAPER OR PLASTIC” WARS BEGIN: The plastic grocery bag is introduced to the supermarket industry as an alternative to paper sacks.[iv] At this point, plastic produce bags had long overtaken paper bags in the produce aisle. The grocery sack market was later, in 1986, described as “paper’s last stronghold” by Mobil Chemical’s marketing manager. [v]

1982

BATTLE OF THE TRADE GROUPS: Industry establishes a Washington-based trade group of 26 plastic bag companies, called the Grocery Sack Council. The Council is formed to promote the benefits of plastic over paper, price being a compelling factor. Plastic bag market share reportedly grows from 4% in 1981 to 50% in 1988.[vi] In 1983, the American Paper Institute reportedly funds Jeanne Bakelar as she leads a nationwide campaign along with a number of women’s clubs, to bring paper bags back into stores. [vii]

1988

BAG BAN PROPOSED IN NEW YORK – INDUSTRY FILES LAWSUIT: Suffolk County New York passes a law banning the use of plastic grocery bags and other plastic food containers effective in July, 1989.[viii] The Plastic Bag Association, Society of Plastics Industry, Flexible Packaging Association and others in the plastics industry work together to get the law overturned. The Society of the Plastics Industry files a lawsuit and is victorious in 1990.[ix]

1990

PUBLIC OUTCRY IN MAINE: Maine bans single-use plastic bags at retail checkout in January.[x] In 1991, the law is overturned. [xi]

INDUSTRY LOBBYING EFFORTS: Partnership for Plastics Progress created – Top executives and managers from 27 of the largest U.S. plastics producers form an industry group, the Partnership for Plastics Progress, to respond to public concerns about plastics.[xii] It begins with a $50 million annual campaign of public information, education and relations. The organization is today called the American Plastics Council, which is part of the American Chemistry Council. [xiii] Consumer plastic bag recycling begins through a supermarket collection-site network. [xiv]

1996

PLASTIC BAGS BECOME UBIQUITOUS: 80% of grocery bags used are plastic. [xv]

1997

GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH: Algalita Marine Research Foundation begins to document what it refers to as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, bringing awareness to the issue of plastic pollution in the marine environment, specifically the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In 1998, the Plastic Bag Association’s Elementary and Middle School Education Program gets traction with 10,000 requests. [xvi]

1998

INDUSTRY CONFLICT: George A. Makrauer, President of the Plastic Bag Association delivers a warning to the industry at its Annual Meeting, when that group was being merged into the Society of the Plastics Industry. [xvii] In 2009, he publishes the presentation with the following description: “The public’s disdain for things ‘plastic’ — especially bags — is due to shameful and short-term industry ‘leadership’ without care or concern for any long-term and science-based support.”[xviii]

2005

WIND BLOWN LITTER CAUSES ACTION: In response to being visually overwhelmed by plastic bags at the landfill in Chico, California Andy Keller is inspired to help Americans dispose of fewer unnecessary single-use plastic bags. He creates a reusable bag designed to fit in a pocket. The ChicoBag Company is created.

THE TRUE COST OF “FREE” PLASTIC BAGS: San Francisco is the first city in the United States to recommend a pass-through fee on single-use plastic bags. They estimate the cost to society and tax payers to be 17 cents per bag and propose an ordinance that would place that cost up front at the register, changing the dynamic at the register to include a conscious decision to accept a bag. [xix] The Plastic Bags Alliance (PBA), American Plastics Council (APC), other plastic-bag industry groups, and resin suppliers support a campaign called “Sack the Tax”. They propose a $700,000 advertising budget for 2005. [xx]

FAILED AGREEMENT: A voluntary reduction agreement is put in place between San Francisco and the Grocers to reduce plastic bag use by 10 million bags in one year, down from the then-current usage of between 50 and 150 million bags per year. However, all the grocers except Safeway fail to report bag usage numbers, preventing the city from determining if the goal is met. The voluntary action serves merely as a delaying tactic. [xxi]

2006

ROAD BLOCK: California Assembly Bill 2449, the “Plastic Bag and Litter Reduction Act” is passed, making locally imposed plastic bag fees within the state of California illegal. San Francisco is not able to move forward with their fee proposal. [xxii]

2007

ROAD BLOCK BACKFIRES: Since fees become illegal, San Francisco passes a ban on single-use plastic bags. The cities of Oakland and Fairfax, California quickly follow San Francisco’s lead and ban plastic bags. [xxiii]

ANOTHER LAWSUIT – NEW INDUSTRY TACTICS: Hilex Poly Company, Advance Polybag, and Superbag Operating, et al, form a group called Support Plastic Bag Recycling and use California’s Environmental Quality Act to require Oakland to spend an estimated $100,000 on an environmental impact report. They argue that a ban on plastic bags would increase the use of single-use paper bags, causing greater harm to the environment.[xxiv]
Oakland, financially strapped, is not able to conduct an EIR, and in 2009, the ban is revoked.[xxv]

2008

MORE LAWSUITS: Save The Plastic Bag Coalition is founded with Stephen Joseph as the public face. [xxvi] According to court documents[xxvii], Hilex Poly is reportedly a member. This coalition, whose membership is widely unknown, aggressively picks up where the Coalition to Support Plastic Bag Recycling leaves off, targeting municipalities considering plastic bag bans, including LA County, Palo Alto, Manhattan Beach, City of Encinitas, City of Morgan Hill, City of Mountain View, City of Santa Monica, City of San Diego, and Santa Clara County.[xxviii]

SEATTLE – GRASS ROOTS MOVEMENT DEFEATED – INDUSTRY SPENDS $1.4 MILLION: Environmental groups become increasingly concerned about the financial and ecological costs of wind-blown litter and oceanic plastic pollution. The single-use disposable bag becomes the poster-child of environmental irresponsibility.[xxix] Seattle City Council passes a 20-cent advance recover fee on single-use plastic bags. The industry leads a voter referendum[xxx] and spends a reported $1.4 million compared to the $80,000 raised by environmental interests.[xxxi] The investment pays off, with the measure voted down by a slim margin. However, despite industry spending, bag bans are passed in Westport, CT as well as in the California communities of Encinitas, Fairfield, Malibu and Manhattan Beach.

BATTLE OF THE FACTS: Save The Plastic Bag Coalition and others in the industry start to challenge the facts and statistics commonly cited when discussing the impact of single-use plastics. The plastic bag industry stance appears to be self-serving, and fail to acknowledge the legitimate environmental issues such as the plastic bag’s exceptional ability, despite proper disposal efforts, to become wind-blown litter.

CONSUMPTION INCREASES: Apparent annual consumption of plastic bags increases to 102 billion. If everyone in the United States tied their 2008 consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the Earth’s equator 776 times! [xxxii]

2009

WALMART STARTS TO BAN THE BAG: The retail giant tests consumer reaction to a phase out of single-use plastic bags in a handful of California stores. Wal-Mart isn’t alone and joins Ikea, Whole Foods, Costco and Target in voluntary efforts to reduce single-use bag waste.

INDUSTRY LEADER – SOUNDS ALARM: In an industry newsletter[xxxiii], Robert Bateman, head or Roplast Industries, urges change and sums up the issue this way: “The disposable plastic grocery bag industry is in this mess for two fundamental reasons. Many too many T-shirt bags are used, and the litter and marine debris issue was ignored for too long. . . .If the issues relating to plastic grocery bags are not addressed…other plastic products will soon be threatened…”

2010

MODEL BAG LEGISLATION ADDRESSES PAPER TOO: California, in an attempt to unify the state with one law regarding single-use bags, proposes a ban on plastic bags and a 5-cent fee on paper bags, addressing the behavioral argument that people would switch to paper if plastic bags were banned. Again, countless dollars are spent on campaign contributions, advertisements and lobbyists. The bill is defeated; however the defeat only proves to galvanize the grassroots movement.

A NEW BATTLE BEGINS – SINGLE-USE VS. REUSABLE: By the end of 2010, an estimated 20 communities across the United States have chosen to live with fewer single-use bags by approving a ban or advance recovery fee on single-use plastic bags.[xxxiv] The Plastics Industry efforts to combat these common sense initiatives are failing.

2011

INDUSTRY ATTACKS REUSABLE BAGS: With funding from the American Chemistry Council, Arizona researchers publish a study that concludes that reusable bags have a significant risk of bacterial cross-contamination.[xxxv] Sensational news stories[xxxvi] about the report blanket the nation. The Center for Consumer Freedom, publishes numerous reports about lead content in some reusable bags, creating uncertainty, fear and doubt.

CIVIC RESPONSE: In the first quarter of 2011, six more communities in the United States approve bans on single-use plastic bags.

INDUSTRY GIANTS SUE REUSABLE BAG COMPANY: Three of the largest single-use bag companies (Hilex Poly Company, LLC, Superbag Operating, LTD and Advance Polybag, Inc ) file a lawsuit in South Carolina against the ChicoBag Company, a small reusable bag company based in California, over the widely quoted environmental facts cited on their website. Some of the facts in question involve single-use bag consumption, recycling rates, and impacts of plastics on our environment. When ChicoBag challenged these three plastic bag companies to back up their allegations and asked for the true recycling rate for plastic bags among other things, Superbag and Advance Polybag provided little in response and subsequently dropped out of the case. Hilex Poly, the lone plaintiff without the support of its peers, agreed to settle the case the trio had brought against ChicoBag. Hilex Poly agreed to include statements on a website that discuss ways to prevent windblown litter. See press release.

GARBAGE PATCHES CONFIRMED: While some in the plastics industry say the Garbage Patch is a myth; the 5 Gyres Institute, founded in 2009, completes the first circumnavigation of the five subtropical gyres. Andy Keller joins the voyage to the South Pacific Gyre to see the issue for himself. All five gyres are found to be accumulation zones for plastic pollution.[xxxvii]

2014

CALIFORNIA IS THE FIST STATE TO PASS A STATE-WIDE BAN ON SINGLE-USE BAGS: After a 5 year entrenched battle with big plastic, SB270 is passed by both houses and signed by Governor Brown.

INDUSTRY VOWS TO OVERTURN CALIFORNIA’S BAG BAN: Big plastic, led by Novolex (aka Hilex Poly) initiate a referendum to overturn California’s bag ban law and delays the ban until November 2016.

PAPER AND PLASTIC JOIN FORCES: Novolex (aka Hilex Poly), the largest plastic bag manufacturer purchases Duro Bag, the largest paper bag company in the USA.

OCEANS WILL HAVE MORE PLASTIC THAN FISH BY 2050: According to the world economic forum, if we keep producing plastics at predicted rates, plastics in the ocean will outweigh fish pound for pound in 2050.

FIVE CENT FEE ON PLASTIC BAGS IS APPROVED BY NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: Passage of the bill came after two years of debate and at least one other attempt by the city’s elected officials to charge a fee or tax on disposable bags.

CALIFORNIA VOTERS UPHOLD STATE-WIDE BAN : Representatives of the plastics industry were the driving force in trying to overturn the 2014 law and raised more than $6 million to defeat Prop 67. Environmental groups were vastly outspent, though a majority of newspapers in the state took their side. As for Prop 65, the papers showed similar opposition, with The Mercury News editorial board notably calling it “one of the most disingenuous ballot measures in state history.” In the end, this is about Extended Producer Responsibility. Big Plastic, instead of acknowledging the end-of-life impacts of their products, they (mainly Hilex Poly (AKA Novolex)) spent millions employing lawyers, lobbyists and PR Firms to try to pull the bag over our eyes and failed. California has always led the way to a brighter future where business and the environment can thrive.

Andy Keller, President & Founder of ChicoBag, attended Sustainable Brands 2016 as a speaker on the panel Evolving Tools and Technologies in the Quest to Increasing Supply Chain Transparency. On June 8th, Andy spoke about Repreve’s UTrust Technology and how it enables ChicoBag to track supply chain materials throughout the production process. This technology allows ChicoBag to ensure its recycled content products are indeed “recycled”.

Throughout the week many noticed the elephant in the room…the Bag Monster – Andy Keller’s depiction of the average consumption of single-use bags an individual uses in a year, 500 bags! The Bag Monster made its way through the conference, undoubtedly striking up conversation surrounding single-use waste.

By the end of the day, the Bag Monster had danced its way out of the conference and onto the beach. Keller made it safely back to the ChicoBag office, as for the Bag Monster – it is said to be seen enjoying summer vacation on the beaches of San Diego, CA.

]]>http://www.bagmonster.com/2016/06/bag-monster-crashes-sustainable-brands.html/feed0Rekindle the Lovehttp://www.bagmonster.com/2015/09/rekindle-the-love.html
http://www.bagmonster.com/2015/09/rekindle-the-love.html#commentsTue, 22 Sep 2015 18:08:20 +0000http://www.bagmonster.com/?p=4479As humans, we go to work or school, go grocery shopping, run errands, take care of family and otherwise live life. Our world can easily shrink to the size of our city, town, or neighborhood. We can easily find ourselves living in a world full of asphalt, concrete, buildings and cars for months, years, or even a lifetime.

Sunset over the Bermuda Triangle

With over 7 billion people on Earth, it takes a concerted effort to find yourself in a pristine world beyond the asphalt and concrete – a place of wilderness, away from all the distractions of modern life. If you have ever found yourself in a wilderness area, you are lucky and you probably know how rejuvenating it can be to reconnect with yourself, breathe the crisp air, notice the silence, and tune into the rhythm of nature. It is an amazing feeling to experience the planet the way it has been for eons – untouched, beautiful, and grounding.

In the moments that I have made time to get outside, I have always been awestruck by the effortless beauty of nature. When I learn about the complex web of symbiotic relationships among species, I fall deeper in love with our planet. My most love-struck moments have not been on land; they have been on the ocean.

With scuba gear, I can experience this vast oceanic wilderness weightless, rising and falling with my breath, hearing only my breath, bubbles and sometimes the faint grinding sound of fish biting off bits of coral. The abundance of life in protected underwater wildlife preserves is amazing. I once saw a field of sand dollars. Not the ones you find on the beach – these sand dollars were clearly alive with surprisingly purple skin. There were at least 300 of them synchronized at a 45-degree angle with their mouths facing against the current, one third of their bodies in the sand and optimized for feeding. I realized that up until then, I had only seen dead sand dollars. To see them alive, in a colony, and seemingly thriving left me awestruck and love-struck by the effortless intelligence they expressed. I feel energized when I see beautiful and thriving species – the unbelievable interconnectedness of our world is on display and I deeply want to protect these places from being tainted, degraded or put in harm’s way.

A Peaceful View in the Bahamas

I volunteered to sail with The 5 Gyres Institute on their Sea Change Expedition because these beautiful places are in harm’s way. I wanted to join a passionate crew to further the research and help bring attention to the growing threat of plastic pollution. As we sailed across the vast wilderness of the North Atlantic Gyre, I was excited to unplug from the distractions of daily life and reconnect with the rhythm of our beautiful planet.

Unfortunately, this once pristine wilderness, along with the rest of our oceans, is becoming increasingly polluted with toxic plastic confetti. This is not new. Even though most of us are not intentionally throwing our trash in the ocean, all water on Earth eventually travels to the ocean awash with the remnants of our throwaway society. How long can we tolerate the slow and progressive destruction of a place we love? Once destroyed, what is left to love?

Beauty Abounds

Let’s rekindle the love. When was the last time you went outside away from the asphalt and concrete to find a piece of nature to love? Perhaps it is a small piece of open space near your home, or a place you have yet to see. The world is full of places that need our love now more than ever. Now go and get your love on and show others how to love the Earth – Love is all we need.

]]>http://www.bagmonster.com/2015/09/rekindle-the-love.html/feed1Jack Johnson vs. Bag Monsterhttp://www.bagmonster.com/2015/07/jack-johnson-vs-bag-monster.html
http://www.bagmonster.com/2015/07/jack-johnson-vs-bag-monster.html#respondMon, 06 Jul 2015 21:57:46 +0000http://www.bagmonster.com/?p=4447When Jack Johnson is not spreading love and joy around the world with his music, he is most likely giving back to the world through his Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation or back to his home community of Hawaii via the Kokua Hawaii Foundation. Jack, a lover of the oceans and nature, along with his Wife Kim Johnson and their foundations, have helped untold millions of people live better lives through their music education, art education and environmental education programs.

With a continual and sustained focus on our future, of course they envision and are leading the way to a world with significantly less single-use plastics. Jack recently joined a 5 Gyres Institute expedition to the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre with a number of scientists, ocean athletes, and ocean advocates to study the impact that plastic is having on our oceans. Perhaps you have heard of the five oceanic gyres? These are areas in the ocean where plastics have washed out to sea and accumulate due to converging currents. Some people have called these places garbage patches, or have described each as an island of trash. Unfortunately, there are no islands of trash, it’s worse! It’s “plastic smog”. It is everywhere and is mostly small fragments of plastic that is impossible to clean up without killing the numerous tiny sea creatures that make up the base of the oceanic food chain. This is our new reality, plastic smog polluting our oceans.

Many of you know that cleaning the plastic out of the ocean with giant machines is as futile as attempts in the 1970’s to clean up air pollution with giant air scrubbing machines. The realistic and simple solution to air pollution was to focus on the source of the smog. The U.S. Clean Air Act created a series of changes that dealt with the sources of the air pollution. The result was a significant reduction in air pollution despite a tremendous increase in our population and economy.

The solution to Plastic Smog in the Oceans is also source reduction. Our storm drains are the smoke stacks delivering plastics into the ocean in the form of bottles, bags, cigarette butts, and straws. Perhaps you have heard of Mircobeads? If not, watch this 2 minute video.

Jack Johnson gives Bag Monster something to think about.

Of course, plastic industry groups like to promote stories about cleaning up the ocean, or that recycling is the answer because these stories are the convenient lies that give us permission to continue with our single-use throw-away society instead of making the necessary changes needed in order to address the real problem. The real problem is that plastic is difficult to recycle for numerous reasons and as such, a very small percentage of plastics actually get turned into new products. The real problem is that plastic pollution impacts us all. From bottom feeders on the ocean floor, all the way up the food chain to us humans, we are all impacted. There is no difference between an environmental health problem and a human health problem. If it isn’t clear, just look closer – it’s all connected.

Wise souls like Jack Johnson know this. Jack, through his music and good work helps us to understand that love is fuel that will heal this world. On the other hand, there is the Bag Monster, the poster-child of necessary waste, a creature so unconscious of his consumption its painful, so un-grounded, he could take flight. Bag Monster’s plastic bag industry talking points and circular arguments in defense of single-use plastics flew flat and then blew away.

]]>http://www.bagmonster.com/2015/07/jack-johnson-vs-bag-monster.html/feed0Arizona Lawmakers Forbid Cities From Enacting Plastic Bag Banshttp://www.bagmonster.com/2015/05/arizona-lawmakers-forbid-cities-from-enacting-plastic-bag-bans.html
http://www.bagmonster.com/2015/05/arizona-lawmakers-forbid-cities-from-enacting-plastic-bag-bans.html#respondThu, 07 May 2015 18:47:41 +0000http://www.bagmonster.com/?p=4434PHOENIX (AP) — Vexed by the litter caught in cactus and shrubs, one Arizona city banned plastic bags on Earth Day last year. Two others considered similar bans as part of a growing trend around the country to outlaw the single-use of plastic bags at checkout counters.

Those efforts are now in limbo after Arizona lawmakers voted this month to make it illegal for cities to impose bag bans, angering municipalities over what they see as heavy-handed action by the state.

It’s a clash that has grown more intense as lawmakers here have taken an aggressive approach in recent years in curtailing the role of local government. Arizona cities are forbidden from hiking minimum wages and enacting taxes or regulations on firearms. The same law that made it illegal for cities to ban plastic bags also applied similar restrictions on Styrofoam containers and other disposable products. And it included a requirement blocking cities from requiring business owners to report energy usage consumption, something some municipalities were considering in order to encourage energy-efficiency in buildings.

Some local officials note the irony: While the conservative Arizona Legislature scoffs at the federal government, they say state lawmakers are doing the same thing to cities and towns — especially those that tend to lean liberal.

“Whenever it’s convenient for the GOP they push for more independence from the feds and at the same time they are curbing the cities’ abilities to govern,” said Eva Putzova, a Flagstaff City Council member.

Other conservative states are making similar moves to ban plastic bag bans. Florida already has made it illegal for municipalities to ban plastic bags, and lawmakers are considering similar legislation in Missouri and Texas, said Jennifer Schultz, a policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

That’s in contrast to Arizona’s neighbor to the west, California, where lawmakers enacted a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags following the lead of more than 100 cities and counties that outlawed the bags. Business groups are trying to overturn the law and have collected enough signatures to put the referendum on the 2016 ballot. The law is on hold until the dispute gets resolved.

The Arizona bill to outlaw bag bans was backed by the Arizona Retailers Association and the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance, which represents brands including Safeway, Kroger, Circle K and QuickTrip. Tim McCabe, president of Arizona Food Marketing Alliance, said the statewide ban makes it easier for customers who may be confused by a patchwork of city regulations.

“We think the more cities and towns can push awareness programs, the more recycling, the less bags will be used,” McCabe said.

Lawmakers who supported the legislation said banning plastic bags wasn’t necessary. Republican Sen. John Kavanagh, who represents the city of Fountain Hills east of Phoenix, said plastic and Styrofoam are cheaper and more sanitary than paper products.

“We really don’t need to do this in Arizona because we don’t have the crisis in landfills and litter that other areas do,” he said.

Though the cities of Flagstaff and Tempe have since dropped their proposals to ban plastic bags, they are considering taking legal action against the state.

Lauren Kuby, a city council member in Tempe, which is home to Arizona State University, sees the dispute over bags as part of a bigger fight as cities like hers attempt to take proactive stances on a range of issues, only to be stymied by a conservative Legislature.

“From our point of view cities are the incubators of innovations,” she said. “In this instance, they are interfering with local decision making.”

Kavanagh said he sees no contradictions. Municipalities exist because of state government, he said.

“The states are the source of all authority both at the federal level and at the local level,” Kavanagh said. “And having containers and bags for food and groceries that aren’t contaminated with bacteria and viruses is something the state finds important.”

Pam Rodrigues, who owns an arts and antique store in the southern Arizona mountain town of Bisbee, said her business saved more than $500 last year by not buying plastic bags since the city’s bag ban went into effect.

“The feedback from my customers is overwhelmingly enthusiastic,” she said.

Plastic bags have nearly disappeared from the city’s waste stream since the ban began, said Andy Haratyk, Bisbee’s public works manager.

For now, Bisbee continues to en

“I wish we would act the way the state Legislature did and say ‘I don’t care what you voted on. We are going to do it anyway,'” Haratyk said. “Now everybody will go back to their single-use plastic bags and they’ll be all over the place just like they were.”force the ban, but only until July when the state law goes into effect.